Latvia and Tierp. Titans debut. Leach in ARX2. Honda World RX start. More.

27 June    RA Events, promoter of the Latvian round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship issues a statement explaining why it might not be part of the championship in 2020. “At a time when it is necessary to agree on continuing our collaboration with the World Rallycross Championship promoter IMG about hosting an event here in Latvia, we have been put into a situation where, due to two incompatible circumstances, we cannot definitely say that it will be possible to organise a World Rallycross Championship round here at the CSDD Bikernieki Circuit. IMG requires an answer (along with financial guarantees) in order for Latvia to maintain its place in the 2020 World RX calendar, but the Latvian national budget will only be prepared at the end of this year, which means that we are unable to give any guarantees at the moment. Since IMG cannot wait, and the Latvian government cannot change the way the budget is made, it is very likely that Neste World RX of Latvia will not be part of the 2020 calendar,” said event director Raimonds Strokss, “We will be able to continue our discussions with the Latvian government about systematic changes to the funding allocation, so that the budget for such events is given a year in advance, instead of from the budget of that particular year. If everything goes well, that would mean that, by the end of 2019 (along with confirmation of the 2020 budget), we would be able to give the necessary guarantees about hosting the event in 2021.”

28 June    Tierp Arena reveals details of upgrades to be complete before the final RallyX Nordic event of the year. The lap has been extended to include six new corners, a wider entry to the Joker Lap and re-profiled jumps. The changes follow a troubled debut event at the end of last year. The paddock is also being relocated to a better area of the venue. The RallyX Nordic finale takes place on 21-22 September.

29 June    Toomas Heikkinen wins the first Titans RX event at Essay in France. Heikkinen leads home Kevin Hansen and Jerome Grosset-Janin in the new series in which 12 drivers race equal PanteraRX6 cars. 

30 June    In the second Titans RX event of the weekend at Timmy Hansen recovers from placing seventh in round one to win, topping the podium ahead of younger brother Kevin and first day winner Toomas Heikkinen. Moving directly from winning the Ypres Rally Craig Breen makes his debut and is in the battle for second place but is bumped down to last place in the final after receiving a penalty for contact.

2 July   Michael Leach joins the ARX2 championship for the balance of the 2019 season. The 15-year-old has raced quarter midgets since he was eight and has more recently raced IMCA Modifieds. He drove an ARX3 buggy at Mid Ohio last month and will now see out the season in ARX2 with Loenbro Motorsports and AF Racing. “Running ARX2 is going to be very exciting for me because I’ve never raced a car like this before,” said Leach. “I’m used to turning left all the time and now I’m going to be switching back and forth as well as running on both dirt and asphalt. The ARX2 cars are completely different from cars I’m used to running. My main car is a dirt oval stock car, so I only have to turn left. Now I’m going to be driving a car with a lot more power. All in all this is going to be very fun and I can’t wait to compete with the other racers!”

3 July    Ulrik Linnemann will give the Honda Civic Coupe its World RX debut at Holjes. The OMSE-developed car was originally built for use in America’s GRC series and finally approved for use in FIA events during 2018. Having raced the car at Holjes in May Linnemann is quitely confident about his chances. “It’s a dream come true for me to be a part of the ‘Magic Weekend’ at Holjes. To get the chance to gauge myself against the world’s best – at the most legendary rallycross circuit around – is an amazing opportunity, and having competed there so recently in RallyX Nordic, hopefully I can hit the ground running right from the start. You can test all you like, but there’s no substitute for actual racing experience,” said Linnemann.

4 July    Yellow Squad by Hansen confirms that it will run three cars in the pro-am crosskart race on Friday night of the World RX event at Holjes. The most successful rallycross driver of all time, Kenneth Hansen, will be joined in the lineup by engineer Graham Rodemark, himself an accomplished racer on two and four-wheels, and Yellow Squad’s regular driver Julius Ljungdhal. The event will also feature Marcus Gronholm, Henning Solberg, former European Rallycross Champion Sverre Isachsen and Holjes local hero Stig-Olov Walfridson.

4 July    Lydden Hill Race Circuit, the birth place of rallycross, launches a campaign to seek public support for its latest bid to secure planning permission for improvements to facilities and changes in the days of use. In a statement the circuit said: “Lydden Hill Race Circuit is an historic motor sport venue which has been operating for about 60 years but motor sport and a current restriction of 52 days of operation a year does not provide the necessary return on our considerable investment to enable the facility to have a future. That’s why we are asking Dover District Council to agree that we may diversify into other activities and most importantly, operate on extra days for non-noisy activities which would include cycling, running, charity events and more.” You can support the plans by commenting here:

4 July    AFOR, the promoter of the French Rallycross Championship announces outline details for changes in 2020. A new Junior series using Renault Clios will be introduced and the curent Twingo R1 series will become the FFSA Rallycross French Women’s Cup – exclusively for female drivers.